Abc, Other Networks Struggle With Ad Sales

Though some advertisers are biting, others complain that ABC's recent performance doesn't justify its demands for rate increases of 5 percent to 6 percent.

The network's ratings during the recently completed season plunged 16 percent among the viewers that advertisers pay the most to reach: those 18 to 49 years old.

But ABC, apparently, won't budge. Disney President Robert Iger said last week that the network might even pull off the market some of its prime-time commercial inventory during the so-called upfront sales period and take its chances later in the year.

According to advertisers, that would be a high-stakes gamble for fourth-placed ABC.

"It's a double-edged risk," said Brad Adgate, research director for advertising buying firm Horizon Media. "They're betting that the marketplace will be strong and that their shows click with viewers" this fall, drawing advertisers in then.

ABC's ad sales for the coming season slowed last week as buyers balked at the network's prices. It has sold more than half of its prime-time inventory but probably will fall short of the $1.7 billion it garnered during the 2003 upfront market.

"It will be a decent upfront for ABC, not as strong as last year, but certainly decent," Iger said at a Deutsche Bank Securities media conference. "We're looking at somewhere in the $1.5- to $1.6-billion range." That didn't include, Iger pointed out, $500 million in expected ad revenue next season for commercial spots during Monday Night Football, the NBA playoffs, the Academy Awards and other special events.

ABC isn't the only network unable to sell all its prime-time ads now at the rates it wants.

As television's rite of spring, the annual sale of prime-time commercial spots is a closely watched barometer for the overall health of the advertising industry and media conglomerates that own networks. During last year's upfront, they sold a record $9.3 billion in prime-time spots.

Viacom Inc.'s CBS, the only major network whose audience grew last season, entered the upfront market in the strongest position of any of the networks.

Analysts have predicted that CBS will come away with about $2.4 billion.

Viacom's UPN, a source said, should finish with about $300 million in sales, up from last year's $250 million.

General Electric Co.'s NBC completed its sales by hauling in $2.9 billion, about even with last year.

Fox Broadcasting Co., owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., hit its targets by pulling in 7 percent to 8 percent rate increases. Fox finished with $1.6 billion, flat from last year. Fox's take is usually less than its rivals' because it sells just 15 hours a week in prime time, reserving the 10 o'clock hour for local news. By comparison, NBC, CBS and ABC all program 22 hours of prime time a week.

And after a disappointing season in which it lost more than 10 percent of its viewers, the WB network reeled in $675 million in advance sales, down from the $700 million that it collected last year. The WB is owned by Time Warner Inc. and Tribune Co., which also publishes the Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel.